Tony Blair calls for safe havens inside Syria

The former prime minister did not rule out that military intervention may be needed to stop the civil war. He warned that people may be misjudging Assad and the situation in Syria if they believe that his ousting from power was “inevitable”. He told BBC radio: “I would be advocating ramping up where we are now. Now, how you do that, whether it’s along the lines of what the Turks have suggested which is you create zones of immunity, these are questions that we should debate.

“I am certainly very alarmed at the prospect... that we just kind of leave that now. Because I think the consequence of that would be very brutal and very bloody for all the people there.” Mr Blair, now a Middle East envoy, stressed that as many as 35,000 people may have died in the 18 months of bloodshed. “Is it moral to intervene or is it moral not to?” he added.

An independent UN panel confirmed today that “terrorists” and other “foreign elements” including jihadis are now operating in Syria. The investigative panel appointed by the Human Rights Council also accused government forces and pro-regime militia of crimes against humanity including murder, summary executions, torture, arbitrary arrests, sexual violence and abuse of children.

Meanwhile, security officials said today that four missiles fired by two Syrian warplanes landed on Lebanese territory near the border town of Arsal. There were no reports of casualties.